{"id":14314,"date":"1981-02-01T14:36:00","date_gmt":"1981-02-01T22:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=14314"},"modified":"2023-01-23T15:24:37","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T23:24:37","slug":"abortion-2-fetal-status-and-legal-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=14314","title":{"rendered":"Abortion: 2. Fetal status and legal representation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bernard M Dickens<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"171\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/cmaj.jpg\" alt=\"Canadian Medical Association Journal, CMAJ\" class=\"wp-image-11269\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Extract<\/strong><br>It has long been accepted that, legally, &#8220;personhood&#8221; begins with live birth and that a fetus therefore has no legal status. . . . generally, the rights of the fetus are not recognized, even though the property interests of an unborn child may appear to be protected. . . .This legal procedure simply postpones the distribution of property until the gestation period is over. Similarly, if a fetus is injured <em>in utero<\/em> and is subsequently found, when born alive, to be affected by the injury, legal action can be taken. However, this is the right of a human being, not of a fetus. . . . On the other hand, if a child is unborn or its life ends <em>in utero<\/em>, no legal action can be taken on its behalf. [quoting Dehler v. Ottawa Civic Hospital]. . . . [Discusses unresolved 1979 case in Nova Scotia in which an estranged husband and an anti-abortionist prevented an abortion using an injunction and guardianship application] . . . .It seems that Canadian society must rely on such judicial decisions to develop the law on fetal status, protection and legal representation. Politicians and legislatures are wary of the abortion-related furore these topics trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Dickens BM. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC1705132\/pdf\/canmedaj01475-0015.pdf\">Abortion: 2. Fetal status and legal representation<\/a>. Can Med Assoc J. 1981;124(3):253-254. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bernard M Dickens ExtractIt has long been accepted that, legally, &#8220;personhood&#8221; begins with live birth and that a fetus therefore has no legal status. . . . generally, the rights of the fetus are not recognized, even though the property interests of an unborn child may appear to be protected. . . .This legal procedure &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/library.consciencelaws.org\/?p=14314\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Abortion: 2. Fetal status and legal representation&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,881,559],"tags":[1147,1358],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-14314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion","category-journals-editorials","category-law","tag-bernard-m-dickens","tag-personhood"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Abortion: 2. 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